Thursday, January 22, 2009

Setting up a new or re-imaged computer to work with Collage

Occasionally, Marketing and Communications receives calls from Collage users who are suddenly encountering problems with the product. In most cases, these people have received new computers or had the operating systems on their computers reinstalled. Either of those possibilities necessitates the installation of the three plug-ins required by Collage.

ActiveX plug-in

Java Virtual Machine

MSXML 4.0

To see if you need any or all of the above plug-ins, conduct a Collage system check. This Web page runs a system check on your computer, the results of which will reveal which plug-ins you need to install.

If you need the ActiveX or MSXML plug-ins, the procedure below will install both of those items. These steps work on any Windows computer connected to NUNet.

Installing the Java Virtual Machine is a separate process. Before describing how it can be downloaded, it is important to note that the Collage system check will list versions 1.6 and above of the Java Virtual Machine as unsupported. However, Collage will run correctly with those versions installed. The Java Virtual Machine only needs to be installed if your system check says it is not installed, or you have version 1.5.0_05 or earlier.

In order to install the Java Virtual Machine software on your computer, you need what Information Services calls "local administrative privileges," also known as "local admin rights." Local administrative privileges allow you to add programs to your computer. Call the IS Help Desk (373-HELP) to see if you have local administrative privileges. If you do not, the IS representative will guide you through the short process.

Once you have confirmed you have local administrative privileges, you can download and install the Java Virtual Machine. Go to the download page on java.com. The page contains instructions on downloading and installing the software.

After you install the Java Virtual Machine, quit Internet Explorer. The software installation will not finish until you exit the browser.

Now that you have installed the necessary plug-ins, you should be able to use Collage.